Apple, Google, and Yahoo are being investigated got anti-trust violations. The US Department of Justice is looking into the companies hiring and retention practices. Of particular interest is the use of employee contracts to prevent employees from leaving “the mother ship” and seeking greener pastures.

Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure agreements are nothing new when it comes to upper level or technical employees. I have had to sign them at every company I have worked for. Primarily they are used to prevent a disgruntled employee with sensitive information from to another company and spilling the beans. However when these are used to prevent good employees from obtaining better work (or pay) is when the system breaks down.

The DoJ thinks that Apple, Google and Yahoo might be engaging in this type of preventative behavior not to protect company secrets but to prevent the competition from gaining a talented employee. They feel that this behavior stifles competition and harms consumers.

Read more here.

The review is said to be “industry-wide” and in preliminary stages, according to the report, which cited two unnamed sources. Companies that agree not to hire away talent could be stifling competition, the report noted.

Representatives for Apple, Google, and Yahoo, as well as the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tech companies, known for their exhaustive recruiting efforts, have waged fierce battles to maintain top talent. In one closely watched case, Google was sued by Microsoft in 2005 over Google’s decision to hire Kai-Fu Lee away from Microsoft to run Google’s research operation in China. The two parties eventually settled out of court.

via. TweakTown.com

Yeah, I know. One might say I watched too much Star Trek when I was a little kid, but stuff like this just makes me really excited. During last week’s Google I/O event, the popular search giant’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, California, Google presented “a contraption it calls the “Holodeck,” for event-goers to experience. Basically, it’s a near-360 degree way to view Google Street View in fast motion, high definition video.”

But have a look and judge for yourself:

via. Guru3D.com

Google has announced a major revision to Gmail for iPhone and Android devices.

—–
Today we’re introducing a major revision to Gmail for mobile that takes advantage of the latest browser technology available on iPhone and Android devices. We’ve updated the user interface, made it faster to open messages, allowed for batch actions (like archiving multiple messages at once), and added some basic offline support

Despite the advent of 3G networks and wifi, smartphones still lack a high-speed, always-on broadband connection and can have connections far less reliable than their desktop brethren. So, just like when we redesigned the Gmail for mobile client app last October, we’ve gone back to the drawing board and redesigned Gmail for the mobile browser to overcome some of these limitations. We made performance more consistent, regardless of connection type, and laid the foundation for future improvements.

Now, when you go to gmail.com from your iPhone or Android browser, archiving email is quicker because it doesn’t require a response from a remote server. Instead, we cache mail on the device itself (using database storage on the iPhone and a device-local mobile Gears database on Android-powered phones). Actions like archiving or starring messages are first applied to this cache and then sent to Gmail servers in the background whenever a network connection is available. You only have to wait for a response from the server when you’re requesting an uncached message or list of messages. As a result, you can start-up Gmail even if you’re on a slow connection. You can even compose mail and open recently read messages while offline.

We made extensive use of other browser functions too: for example, the floaty bar that lets you archive, delete or apply more actions is animated via CSS transformations and controlled in part with touch events (when you scroll the screen, it follows you).

The HTML5 canvas tag is used to render the progress spinner without the overhead of downloading animated GIFs to the device. Now that we’ve developed a framework for the new Gmail for mobile, we’re planning a whole lot more: faster performance, improved offline operation, new functionality, and interface enhancements that take advantage of the unique properties of smartphones.

To try this new version of Gmail for mobile, just go to gmail.com from your mobile browser. It’s currently available on any Android-powered devices or iPhone OS 2.2.1 or higher.

GV Mobile brings the power of Google Voice to your iPhone. The application, developed by Sean Kovacs, has been sent to the App Store and is pending Apple approval.

Features:
- dial numbers (domestic for free and international at a variable rate) via the iPhone address book or typing on the keypad
- send SMS
- retrieve and delete recent call history
- playback and delete voicemails
- take calls from different phones other than your iPhone
- enable or disable the phones that Google Voice forwards calls to
- add or delete phones that Google Voice forwards call to

Read More [via 9to5Mac]

Vic Gundotra, VP of engineering at Google has demonstrated an offline version of Gmail for the iPhone 3G.

The app relies on HTML5 standards which allow for a local database and app cache. These standards allow your device to save a copy of your Gmail locally for access while your phone is in Airport mode or out of service. When you go back online the database could sync back with Gmail.

For more information you can watch Gundotra’s presentation below…

Today Google announced AdSense for mobile search, a way for carriers and mobile publishers to embed Google search.

—–
Today, we’re happy to announce a new AdSense product for both mobile network operators and mobile website owners across the globe. AdSense for mobile search is a quick and easy way for carriers and mobile publishers to embed a Google search box on their mobile portals and web sites. Whether they are day-dreaming of Hawaii or trying to find the perfect Valentine’s day gift, mobile phone users will get instant access to Google search including comprehensive web search, local, image, and news results — all formatted for their phones. Mobile operators and website owners share in the ad revenue generated by searches originating from their sites.

AdSense for mobile search is a Google-hosted solution, which means users will experience the same speed, reliability, and innovation that they’ve come to expect from Google. And even though the results pages are served by Google, the pages can be cobranded with publishers’ logos and linked back to their sites.
—–

You can signup as a beta-tester for AdSense mobile search by filling out this form.

Read More

If you are a Google Apps junkie like I am, chances are that your iPhone (or WinMo) experience has been lacking. Luckily, Google has released Sync support to instantly coordinate your Google Calendar and Contacts.

All of this was possible before through a smartphone’s web browser (and Google Sync has been available on Blackberries for months), but if you were looking to push update your phone to various Google-stored information through the iPhone or Windows Mobile, it was pretty much a read-only experience. Now you can treat Google’s calendar and contacts like any push service, updating your phone to the cloud in real time.

And I’m way too excited about this development. Google Sync

PS: Gmail not included

Gmail has added Multiple Inboxes, an experimental feature which makes it possible to have more then one inbox.

I’m seriously into filters and labels. All the email I get related to Flash goes under my “flash” label, everything about paragliding goes under “flying,” and they all skip my inbox because that’s how I like to stay organized. But when new email arrives I have to switch to the “flash” label first, then click on “paragliding,” etc. I wanted a way to see it all at once.

So when I heard about Gmail Labs, I started implementing a Labs feature in my 20% time that would help me (and you!) spend less time monitoring important messages that may end up getting filtered away. Starting today, you can try Multiple Inboxes, a Labs experiment which makes it possible to have more than one ‘inbox’ in your default Gmail view.

You can enabled Multiple Inboxes from the Labs tab under Settings. Here you can configure what you’d like to see, the number of messages displayed, and the positioning of your panels.

Read More

Google has released an official Google Earth application for the iPhone.

Even before we introduced Google Earth back in 2005, the team had long dreamed of being able to carry the Earth around in your pocket. Well, today that dream becomes a reality as we introduce Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch. With just a swipe of your finger you can fly from Peoria to Paris to Papua New Guinea, or anywhere in between. It may be small, but it brings all the power of Google Earth to the palm of your hand, including all of the same global imagery and 3D terrain. You can even browse any of our 8 million Panoramio photos or read Wikipedia articles.

With Google Earth for iPhone, you can:
? Tilt your iPhone to adjust your view to see mountainous terrain
? View the Panoramio layer and browse the millions of geo-located photos from around the world
? View geo-located Wikipedia articles
? Use the ‘Location’ feature to fly to your current location
? Search for cities, places and business around the globe with Google Local Search

It’s available today in 18 languages and 22 countries in the iTunes App Store.

CEO Dan Hesse, whom you may remember from those classy black-and-white commercials on the teevee, recently told the National Press Club that as it stands, he doesn’t think Android is “good enough to put the Sprint brand on it.” Sure, he probably just meant that he’d like to see Android’s kinks ironed out before Sprint puts out a handset of their own, since he has committed to support Google’s OS in the future. It’s a little surprising coming from Sprint, given their close ties with HTC, but once Android gets a little more polished, we’re sure Sprint will jump into the fray.

via. Gizmodo